Computers & Tech

6 Tips On How To Choose A Perfect Domain Name For Your Blog

The greatest problem with choosing the right domain name is the fact that people don’t dedicate nearly as much attention to it as it deserves. Namely, if you plan to combine online and offline marketing techniques, you need to be aware of the fact that you will have to integrate it into different forms and mediums. Furthermore, how memorable it is may become a deciding factor in making WOM (word of mouth) conversions. On the other hand, illogical word sequences and spelling mistakes may significantly harm your efforts. With this in mind and without further ado, here are top six tips that will help you choose a perfect domain name for your blog.

1. Avoid names and hyphens

The first thing you need to learn when choosing a domain name for your blog is the fact that you need to keep it simple and easy to remember. We’re not suggesting that you should restrict yourself to a single word, especially with over 1 billion active websites out there, however, you might want to avoid elements that tend to make it difficult for your audience to remember. Numbers are particularly difficult, seeing as how some of your visitors might later have a hard time recalling whether you used a number or a numeral. Aside from this, you also want to avoid using hyphens. Simply remembering whether it was used or not can cause a no small amount of frustration with your audience.

2. Avoid cybersquatting

Some people use domain names similar to some of the largest brands out there in hopes of getting discovered by a mistake. This trend is called cybersquatting and, if not careful, you can get sued for it. While the financial penalty might not be that great, this lawsuit might force you to completely reshape your future online marketing strategy and adapt overnight. In a situation where you already have promotional materials printed, having to change the name of your blog or at least its domain name can put you at a serious disadvantage. To avoid doing this accidentally, you might want to check beforehand.

Moreover, when registering your own domain name, you might want to check availability, as well as do all that is in your power to prevent others from taking advantage of your own domain name. In fact, it might be even worth your while to contact intellectual property expert or an IP lawyer and ask for their advice. Who knows, getting a trademark for your domain name might be the best option.

3. Show it to an outsider

One of the problems with making ideas on your own lies in the fact that, while things are taking place, you’re living in a bubble. This means that you can be oblivious even to some of the most obvious problems out there. Those who are skeptical of these lack-of-insight-produced problems might want to check online for all the unintentionally inappropriate domain names that individuals and organizations have used in the past. This caused therapist in a box to become therapistinabox.com, kids exchange became kidsexchange.net and Ben Dover to pick the domain name bendover.com. All in all, some of these brands later understood where the problem was and changed their domain name, however, this is a lot of hassle that can easily be avoided.

4. Avoid something generic

The trick of choosing a great blog domain name lies in the skill of walking a thin line between using keywords and going too generic. Using industry-relevant keywords makes it easier for your website to be found by accident (it boosts its visibility). On the other hand, it also makes it easier for it to get lost in a sea of myriad similar offers. From the practical standpoint, generic usernames are easy to remember, yet, they are also easy to misremember, which means that the next time your reader goes looking for you, they might land on a website of your competitor.

5. TLD is a must

Even though local domains have their uses, it is often for the best to stick with a standard .com extension. Sure, .net or .org are also quite popular, nevertheless, you need to understand that 90 percent of your audience automatically assumes that your extension is .com and failing to deliver on this expectation might result in a confusion. Either way, sticking to a TLD (top-level domain) is an absolute must.

6. Keep it short

At the end of the day, with so many websites out there, keeping your domain name short is far from simple. After all, the most popular words, phrases and even idioms are probably already taken, which leaves you compelled to try and improvise. Nevertheless, being lazy and taking a domain name that is too long may result in a serious problem and cause a lot of people to misremember or fail to remember how to find you altogether. Either way, this is a mistake you have to avoid.

In conclusion

While this may seem as a too long of a list of consideration for something as simple as the domain name, remember, if you make all the right moves, this is something that you will have to do only once. From this perspective, any effort invested to ensure this is more than worth it. So, to make the long story short, keep it short, simple and as far from a PR disaster or a legal conflict as possible.